Unions, boats on agenda for parliament

Paul Osborne, AAP Senior Political Writer

Union corruption and asylum seekers will dominate the final week of federal parliament as a new poll shows the coalition with a slight edge on Labor.

The latest Newspoll, published in The Australian on Monday, puts the Labor government's primary vote on 36 per cent and the coalition on 43 per cent, giving Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's team a one point lead in two-party terms.

But Julia Gillard, who is set to face questions over her work for the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) when she was an industrial lawyer almost two decades ago, leads Mr Abbott as preferred prime minister by 46 per cent to 33 per cent.

With rumours circulating of a possible mid-March election, Mr Abbott told reporters in Canberra on Monday he was ready for the battle.

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"We are ready to fight an election whenever it's called," Mr Abbott said, adding that voters wanted an election sooner rather than later.

"The conclusion they've come to, quite a long time ago, is that minority government is an experiment that failed."

Labor backbencher Andrew Leigh said Mr Abbott had thought he'd be in The Lodge by now "sipping tea".

Instead he was "running out of puff" with his campaign on the carbon tax and now the AWU Union slush fund saga.

"But parliament isn't an opportunity to smear people - it's a forum to talk about the big issues that matter," Dr Leigh said.

Mr Abbott will step up pressure on Labor over union corruption, in the wake of the AWU and Health Services Union scandals, by moving a private member's bill toughening penalties for union leaders found guilty of fraud.

Labor and the coalition will attempt this week to outdo each other on their tough stances on asylum seekers who arrive by boat, with both party rooms expected to hear concerns about the erosion of human rights.

The government wants to put thousands of asylum seekers into the community on rolling bridging visas, but with no right to work and only limited financial assistance.

Mr Abbott says he would cut the humanitarian refugee intake to 13,750 from 20,000 to discourage people smuggling and reintroduce temporary protection visas.

The government will introduce bills to underpin its National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and Gonski school reforms.

The Australian Greens have called on the government to properly fund both schemes.

The minor party also will ask parliament to reject the government's Murray-Darling Basin Plan, despite it already being signed into law - but the move is expected to fail.